Gas turbine engines are used to power aircraft, watercraft, power generators, and the like. Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor compresses air drawn into the engine and delivers high pressure air to the combustor. In the combustor, fuel is mixed with the high pressure air and is ignited. Products of the combustion reaction in the combustor are directed into the turbine where work is extracted to drive the compressor and, sometimes, an output shaft. Left-over products of the combustion are exhausted out of the turbine and may provide thrust in some applications.
Gas turbine engines used in aircraft may include a fan assembly that is driven by the turbine to push air through the engine and provide thrust for the aircraft. A typical fan assembly includes a fan disk having blades and a fan case that extends around the blades of the fan disk. During operation, the fan blades of the fan disk are rotated to push air through the engine. The fan case guides the air pushed by the fan blades.
The fan assembly may further include a windage shield coupled to the fan disk to assist in guiding air through the engine. The windage shield may be positioned to block entry of high pressure air into ambient environments within the gas turbine engine. Harmful stresses may form in the windage shield during operation of the gas turbine engine. These stresses may result from high rotational speeds of the fan assembly or from differences in thermal and mechanical expansion rates between the windage shield and the fan disk.